Introduction:Given that smoking is prohibited in all places of Healthcare and Education in Greece including uncovered areas, the aim of the current study was to report smoking prevalence, awareness of smoking health effects and attitudes towards the implementation of a smoke-free campus at a private college that provides secondary and tertiary education to students over 11 years old.

Material and Methods:A sample of 219 employees including faculty and staff of the college volunteered to complete an electronic survey in 2018, consisting of questions regarding attitudes and beliefs on the smoking ban law and health effects of active and passive smoking.

Results:Age distribution of the sample was 5% between ages 20-29, 23.3% between 30-39, 36.1% between 40-49, and 33.8% over 50 years old. Gender distribution was 33% males and 67% females. Smoking prevalence of college employees was 22.8%, in which 64% reported they would like to quit. Among non-smokers, 50.7% reported they had never smoked, while 26.5% reported being an ex-smoker. 98.6% of employees were aware that nicotine is addictive and that smoking causes lung cancer and/or other types of cancer, while 25.6% were aware that nicotine cravings last six seconds. 95.4% were aware of the harm from passive smoking and 93.6% reported they agree with the implementation of smoking bans in indoor public places. 59.8% reported they would contribute to the gradual implementation of a smoke-free campus.

Conclusions:Smoking prevalence among the college employees was lower than that of the Greek public reported in 2017. There was a high percentage of ex-smokers and high rate of cessation attempts among current smokers. All the employees were highly aware of health effects of smoking and were supportive towards the implementation of a smoke-free campus.

This journal is currently funded by the Health Programme of the European Union
Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the European Commission is responsible for the use which might be made of the information contained herein. The views in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policies of the European Commission.